1. Field
Embodiments relate to an apparatus, method, and medium for generating a panoramic image, and more particularly, to an apparatus, method, and medium for generating a panoramic image by rapidly and precisely stitching a series of images captured in various directions.
2. Description of the Related Art
A panoramic image is a series of images taken in different directions and stitched in a predetermined manner. Such a panoramic image provides a wide field of view (FOV) of a scene as compared with an image captured in one direction. Thus, an extended view of a scene can be provided.
Images having overlapped sections are captured for making a panoramic image. In detail, in a series of images taken for a panoramic image, a trailing edge of an image is ideally identical with a leading edge of the previous image. A more realistic panoramic image can be obtained when the images are stitched with the overlapped sections of the images being precisely aligned.
A conventional panoramic image generating apparatus can use a series of images taken by rotating a camera 360° on a tripod so as to generate a realistic panoramic image. In detail, when generating a panoramic image by stitching a series of images, the conventional panoramic image generating apparatus moves at least one of neighboring images in a predetermined direction so as to align overlapped (ideally identical) portions of the neighboring images. Thus, the conventional apparatus can provide a realistic panoramic image. When a photographer takes a series of images in various directions by holding a camera with his/her hand and moving his/her arm along his/her intended path, a path along which the photographer's hand actually moves may not be exactly identical to the photographer's intended path. Furthermore, when the photographer pushes a photographing button with his/her finger, the camera can be undesirably shaken. Therefore, it is difficult to precisely align overlapped portions of neighboring images when generating a panoramic image by stitching a series of images using a conventional panoramic image generating apparatus.
Therefore, there is a need for a panoramic image generating apparatus and method that can be used for precisely aligning overlapped (ideally identical) sections of neighboring images even when the images are taken in different directions by moving a camera along a path that it was not intended to be moved along. In addition, there is another need for a panoramic image generating apparatus and method that can be used for generating a panoramic image with less calculation load and time. Particularly, these needs may be great when a panoramic image generating apparatus is included in a portable terminal.